Transference-Focused Psychotherapy Program

What is TFP?

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is a manualized, evidence-based treatment for severe personality disorders, in particular borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. To address the clinical needs of this patient population, TFP combines a psychodynamic approach with structure and limit-setting. The goals of the treatment are ambitious - personality change, as reflected in the patients’ functioning and satisfaction in their interpersonal and work lives, as well as symptom change.

TFP builds on a psychodynamic object relations model of psychological functioning. The treatment focuses on internalized images of self and other that organize the patient’s interpersonal experience. The exaggerated, distorted, and unrealistic internal images of self and other that characterize severe personality disorders are associated with problems in mood regulation, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. The treatment aims to modify these internalized relationship patterns by exploring them as they are activated in the therapeutic relationship and in the patient’s interpersonal life. The ultimate aim is to help the patient develop more stable, realistic, and better-integrated experiences of self and other, leading to improved interpersonal functioning and adaptation to life.

The Course

This course begins with a review of the principles and techniques of TFP. It then moves on to case material. Instructors provide the initial case material, including videos of sessions that illustrate management of common clinical situations. After this introductory phase, the course shifts to focus on discussion and supervision of participants’ cases. Students may participate for one, two, or three years.  After completing this course, participants should have acquired the fund of knowledge and clinical skills to be a competent TFP therapist. Participants will receive a certificate from the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

TRAINING

The educational program consists of 34 weekly seminars, running September through June of each academic year.  Courses are co-sponsored by the Columbia Psychoanalytic Center and TFP New York.

For 2020-2021, we are offering three different training opportunities:

1. Weekly seminar in Manhattan held on Tuesday afternoons from 2:15 - 3:45 p.m. at 122 East 42nd Street (near Lexington Avenue)

    Weekly seminars conducted by Videoconference:

2. First year videoconference seminar is held on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00-5:00 p.m. EST
3. Second year videoconference seminar is held on Monday evenings from 5:00-6:00 p.m. EST

Application

The training will be open to licensed Psychiatrists, PhDs, PsyDs, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW).

Download the application here and mail your completed application (along with a CV) and two letters of recommendation with a nonrefundable $50 application fee to:

The Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
1051 Riverside Drive, Box 63
New York, N.Y. 10032

The course for 2019-20 is currently full.  We will be accepting applications for 2020-21 beginning on October 1, 2019. 
 

Tuition

The cost of the year-long seminar held in Manhattan is $3,500 for 2019-2020; tuition will increase to $3750 for 2020-2021.
The cost for the year-long videoconference seminar is $3,000 for 2019-2020; tuition will increase to $3400 for 2020-2021.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.  The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

 The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 50 AMA PRA category 1 credits.   Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any relevant financial information to disclose.